More competition in the wireless industry means cheaper cell phone plans for Canadians

May 16, 2019 – OTTAWA, ON – Competition Bureau

In its comments submitted to the CRTC, the Competition Bureau finds that wireless plans are consistently more expensive in parts of Canada where Telus, Rogers and Bell do not compete with a strong regional competitor.

For example, 10GB plans can be as low as $60-75 per month in Quebec, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. By comparison, the same 10GB plans in other provinces and territories can be as high as $105-110 per month – an increase of up to 80% when compared to provinces with a strong regional competitor.

Factors such as network quality, coverage, demographics or geographic characteristics do not explain the differences in price across the provinces. The only factor that explained price differences was a strong regional competitor. 

It is clear that Canadians could benefit from more competition in the wireless marketplace. The Competition Bureau has provided detailed comments and suggestions for a path forward as part of the CRTC’s Review of mobile wireless services.

For more information, please see our submission to the CRTC.